Hope is the Thing With Feathers
by Nausicaa Smith
Summary: A small expansion on episode 20. “I think that if it had to be four teenage humans and a cat, at least it was those four teenage humans, and that cat." Updated to fix corrupted formatting.
1. Chapter 1

_"Hope" is the thing with feathers—  
That perches in the soul—  
And sings the tune without the words—  
And never stops—at all—_

_And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—  
And sore must be the storm—  
That could abash the little Bird  
That kept so many warm—_

_I've heard it in the chillest land—  
And on the strangest Sea—  
Yet, never, in Extremity,  
It asked a crumb—of Me. _

-- Emily Dickenson

The space under Urahara's shop was big. Big and wide, and bright, in sharp contrast to the night time outside. It made Orihime want to take off running, to see how long it took to make it to the other end. The bottoms of her tennis shoes slid on the loose dirt though, and she didn't want to fall and embarrass herself in front of her classmates. Her comrades, now. She looked down, to see that her shoelaces were tied properly. They were.

She sort of expected that such a desert-like place should be hot, but it was plenty cool in here. _But then,_ she reminded herself, _deserts aren't all hot. Antarctica is a desert, and it's very cold there._ Urahara stashed Kurosaki's body somewhere upstairs and returned to tell them about the Senkai Gate.

"We have to convert your human bodies to spirit bodies before you cross over." Orihime frowned. What about Kurosaki, then? "Even if we removed your souls from your bodies, as we did with Kurosaki, you still would have much trouble moving around in Soul Society."

"I see." Said Ishida from atop a nearby rock. Orihime looked up at him, in his pompous white Quincy uniform, and she felt very small. "So this isn't a regular Senkai Gate."

"Correct." responded Urahara from behind his silly fan. "This one has been modified, so that in order to transform yourselves into spirits, you only need to walk through the gate."

* * *

Ishida had always been a pessimist. Oh, he had sure faith in his own abilities, and perhaps in Kurosaki's power (if not his skill) and he had a suspicion of what Yoruichi was capable of. But he had little to no faith in Inoue's (she just didn't have it in her to fight) and he didn't even know what Sado's were supposed to be. So, even though he knew it was cruel, it was only his nature to bring Kurosaki back down to Earth before they walked through this gate.

"No matter how you look at it, Kurosaki, we are four teenaged humans and a cat, about to break into Soul Society and face a better military than any that probably has ever existed in the Real World, in order to save a girl we've only known for two months."

Kurosaki looked at him, and, as Ishida had expected, his face filled with doubt. Truthfully, Kurosaki had a lot of courage; if he hadn't, he wouldn't have gone Hollow slaying every night since he'd first met Kuchiki. His sense of justice was honorable, and Ishida understood it well. And even as he tried to instill fear into Kurosaki's heart, Ishida knew without a doubt that it would not deter him.

_As a Quincy, I draw my arrow to protect that which is precious to me. Kuchiki gave Kurosaki the means to do that same thing for himself, and in doing so she became one of those who are precious to him; how could he stand by and let her be executed for such a thing?_

"That's the truth, I guess." Kurosaki was saying, having mulled over Ishida's statement a bit. "Can we really do this?" he looked askance at Urahara, shoulders slumped.

"Of course you can." Urahara said patiently. "I've already told you: the power of love is stronger than any sword."

Yoruichi jumped down from Urahara's shoulder. "Do you believe you can do this?" he asked bluntly of Kurosaki. His tail was held jauntily high, but still, as he waited.

Doubt would put this mission in peril. Ishida knew with sudden clarity that whether Urahara allowed them to walk through that gate would depend on Kurosaki's answer here. Unfortunately, Inoue piped up before Kurosaki had time to think about it.

"Of course we can!" she exclaimed indignantly. "If we don't believe, then Kuchiki will fade into the Mists like Avalon did, and then where would we be?"

* * *

"FOUR MINUTES?"

"Well," said Urahara calmly to Ichigo, "This was a rather unreasonable endeavor to begin with."

As if they hadn't already known that. Sado, though, had perhaps a better outlook on the situation than the others. He had no family, and few friends, to miss him if he were gone. He had nothing to lose, and if he were to die by Ichigo's side, fighting for a just cause, that was good enough for him.

And Sado was sure that saving the life of Kuchiki Rukia was as just a cause as he could think of. As much as she was a stranger, she had saved him and Ichigo and Inoue, and probably countless other nameless and faceless humans and spirits in the process. And the day she'd saved him, he'd watched her fight the invisible nightmare without any show of fear on her face. Knowing what he knew now--that she had no blade to draw, no effective magic to call forth against the creature--and having watched her turn to face the thing head on, and dare it to come at her--that was an uncommon kind of courage.

It was worth protecting, Sado thought. And that's what his large fists were for: to protect.

"Then what do we do?" Inoue was asking uncertainly.

"You will walk forward." Yoruichi said, lashing his tail back and forth, looking irritated. "The important thing here is not the supposed impossibility of the mission, but rather the state of your heart. You must have the will in your heart to move forward, and to come out on the other side. That, and that alone, will take you to Soul Society."

* * *

"You understand, don't you?" the cat said to him, and Ichigo's stomach felt as if it were somewhere near his throat. "If you fail, you'll never come home. If you lose, you'll never see your family or friends again.'

Yes, Ichigo understood. And he kept telling himself it was worth the risk--Rukia had changed everything for him, and after all that had happened, all that he had seen, how could he just go back to normal now? He couldn't. Without her, the world would be as empty as it had been before, and that wasn't something that Ichigo could rightfully allow. If she died, if she were really gone, the memory of her smile, her energy, her determination, would haunt him forever. To know with certainty that she would never again kick him in the shin or shove his soul out from his body was unimaginable.

The doubt still lurked there in his soul, dark and unforgiving. He might never see his sisters again. But, had Rukia not come to their rescue that first night, they wouldn't even be alive for him to see. Tatsuki, Inoue, and Chad, too. Half the people in Karakura town. Saving Rukia was the only option--his heart left him no other choice. And if he failed, well, he just wouldn't fail.

Ichigo set his jaw.

"Then we just have to win, right?"

* * *

"Exactly." Yoruichi turned away from Kurosaki rather snottily, and Orihime got the impression that if Yoruichi were a person, he'd be a very rich, aristocratic person. Perhaps on his off-days he wore a diamond-studded collar and drank milk out of a champagne flute.

"So, are you all ready?" Urahara asked, kneeling by the edge of the gate.

Orihime was ready. She didn't know Kuchiki all that well, but she was sure that the girl didn't deserve to die for the crime of saving lives. Besides, Kuchiki and Kurosaki had saved Tatsuki and Orihime from her brother the Hollow. What was more, they had saved him from himself. Orihime had looked into Sora's eyes that night and seen the heroic older brother she had known and loved, who had picked her up one day and taken her away from their abusive parents. Who had cooked and cleaned and read her bedtime stories as if she were his own daughter. Who had refused to leave her side, even in death.

Kuchiki had made that possible, and had allowed Orihime to give him a proper goodbye. And for that, Orihime felt that she could spend the rest of her life thanking Kuchiki, and it would never be enough. Saving her life in return? The very least she could do. Whatever was about to happen, she would set aside her fears and doubts, and embrace the hope that fluttered softly against her heart like a shy little bird waiting to take flight. They were going to do this. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and she believed as hard as she could.

_We are going to save Kuchiki Rukia._

Orihime reached out to each side of her, and took Kurosaki's hand and Ishida's. "We're ready." she said clearly, tugging their hands. "Let's run fast, and don't look back, okay?"

* * *

They were gone. Tessai watched Kisuke stare through the gate for the full four minutes before it snapped shut with a crackle of blue electricity. He adjusted his hat then, and that flyaway blonde hair fell back down into his eyes.

"What do you think, boss?" Tessai asked, stepping back toward the ladder.

"I think that if it had to be four teenage humans and a cat, at least it was _those_ four teenage humans, and _that_ cat. All we can do now is keep the faith, right?" Kisuke picked up his cane with an uncharacteristically nervous grin and followed Tessai. "Let's go upstairs. I could use a drink."


	2. Chapter 2

_"Hope" is the thing with feathers—  
That perches in the soul—  
And sings the tune without the words—  
And never stops—at all—_

_And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—  
And sore must be the storm—  
That could abash the little Bird  
That kept so many warm—_

_I've heard it in the chillest land—  
And on the strangest Sea—  
Yet, never, in Extremity,  
It asked a crumb—of Me._

-- Emily Dickenson

It was not even a year ago today, thought Rukia, that Ichigo, Inoue, Sado and Ishida had stood in this very basement together and walked through Urahara's modified gate with Yoruichi. To go break in to Soul Society.

_To save me,_ she thought.

What had gone through their minds, knowing that if they failed they might never return? She knew Ichigo well enough—he would have been thinking only that they didn't have the option of failure. Rukia knew his heart well.

Ishida must have been pessimistic and snide about it, but surely as determined as the rest. Rukia thought she knew his heart as well—his Quincy pride would not let him lose. Much as he was loath to admit it, standing aside while a Shinigami was put to death for the "crime" of saving a life would have been a grievous injustice to him.

Sado would have been silent. He was the least open of the group, but Rukia knew he would follow Ichigo to Hell and back.

Inoue would have been the glue binding them all together. She'd have been the optimistic one, the one who held onto faith where the others were beginning to doubt. That was Inoue.

And now it was Inoue's turn to be rescued, and Rukia knew much how that felt as well. Renji stood silently beside her as they waited for Urahara to open the garganta. They would make haste to Ichigo's side, to bring back Inoue. And bring her back they would, come hell or high water.

Either of which were pretty likely at this point.

* * *

Ichigo ran. The inky pitch blackness surrounded him creepily, and he was more than a tad pissed that Ishida was simply gliding along effortlessly whereas Ichigo had to focus all his willpower just to keep himself and Chad suspended in the void.

Ichigo took a spill and nearly fell off. This garganta thing, it was ridiculous. But hey, at least there was nothing chasing them this time.

"Could you try to be less of an oaf?" Ishida called haughtily from somewhere to the right. "If you die in here then our chances of successfully rescuing Inoue become far slimmer than they already are."

Too true, Ichigo thought. Time to stop being pissy at Ishida and get moving. He ran faster, with Chad right on his heels. Inoue wasn't exactly sentenced to death like Rukia had been, there was no exact date that would be their last chance. But there was no telling what Aizen might force her to use her powers for, and if they came too late instead of a dozen Espada they might be looking at something vastly different and more deadly.

Besides that, Inoue wasn't exactly the first one to stand up for herself. This wasn't Rukia, who would have been taking names and kicking ass all the way to Las Noches. Inoue was probably huddled in a cell somewhere, drawing pictures of sumo wrestlers driving semis in the dust.

Faster. Ichigo increased his pace through the pitch black nothing, each step more sure than the last.

* * *

Ishida glided along in as straight a line as possible, Kurosaki and Sado a few meters behind. He could have gone considerably faster, but getting separated in here was probably not a good idea. Inoue wasn't waiting for execution like Kuchiki had been when they'd broken in to Soul Society, so time wasn't such a pressing issue.

Still, what those creeps might do to innocent, child-like Inoue if she were there for very long was not something Ishida could bring himself to think of. Inoue. Who ate strawberries dipped in pickle juice. Who worshiped the ground Kurosaki walked on, even though the idiot didn't know it. Who could hardly bring herself to kill a Hollow and who no doubt would be unable to do harm to an Espada, who had a human-like face and a voice and a personality. She could not save herself, and so they would go to save her.

Ishida's grandfather had once told him that Hueco Mundo was a desolate, soul-sucking place full of sand and bare trees and rock. A land stuck in never-ending twilight with a crescent moon and a scant few stars. Never the full glory of summer sunshine nor the dazzling glow of the milky way. A limbo, a purgatory for souls who had lost their way and become one of the Hollow.

A sad, forsaken place.

Well, Ishida fought the Hollow because he didn't like to see sadness. If Inoue died, especially in such a place, he was sure that he and perhaps the two fools following him might never smile again.

* * *

Abarai Renji had always admired Captain Kuchiki. Looked up to him, aspired to defeat him. Hated him, resented his cold aloofness and his cruel demeanor. Loved his power, his grace. Was jealous of his speed and skill. Was amused by his snobbery. Renji was of several minds about his captain, and had felt a great many feelings toward the man.

Today, however, standing in Urahara's bright basement with Rukia's tiny, familiar form at his side, he felt a new feeling: gratefulness. For, once having brought them back to Soul Society, Byakuya turned his back and walked away, saying absently that he had only been instructed to bring them back. He hadn't been told to _do_ anything with them. He met them in the back gardens at Kuchiki Manor at midnight and let them walk through his personal gate, back to the Real World. When he handed Rukia her cloak he had whispered, "Do not make me regret letting you go by getting yourself killed." She had smiled wanly and responded that she didn't plan on it.

In that moment, Renji knew that baby sister could get away with murder and Byakuya would turn his head. Byakuya probably didn't give a rat's ass about Inoue, but had a touch of respect for her having come to save his sister the summer before. And so he let them go, back to the Real World, back to "that dirty human brat."

Kurosaki. What a scary kid, Renji thought. Right now he was probably running like hell through the void of the garganta, cursing under his breath and pushing himself ever harder. Oh, they would save Inoue. Renji and Rukia would catch up and they would pull this off cleanly, just as four human children and a cat had pulled off Rukia's nigh-impossible rescue months before. Compared to the Soukyoku this would be a cinch, right?

Right.

* * *

It took an awful lot to anger Sado Yasutora. But to kidnap an innocent human girl—one who was less a fighter and more a healer, one who would not defend herself—that was dirty. That was a terrible wrong. And Sado was angry.

He followed Ichigo speedily through the darkness, somewhat unnerved that Ichigo's reiatsu-based "path" they were following faded just a few feet behind them. Ishida glided along in front, ghostly white in his Quincy garb. This anger Sado had, he would save for those who had earned it. He let it swell up within himself, and quickened his pace.

He hadn't felt this way when Kuchiki had been taken. Yes, Kuchiki's situation had been equally gross and even more deadly, and yet Kuchiki had known what would happen when she committed her "crime" in the first place. She had known they would come for her, she had known what the penalty would be. Inoue had broken no law, had provoked no one. She simply had something that Aizen wanted. She was innocent of any wrong-doing. And she had gone willingly, probably because Aizen had threatened to kill Ichigo and the rest if she didn't.

And that was a dirty way to play this already filthy game of war. And so, Sado would again raise his fists to protect—not uncommon courage and bravery this time, but innocence. Innocence was worth protecting too.

* * *

It was kind of a shame that Ichigo and the others hadn't waited for Renji and Rukia to join them before they set out. Time was of the essence, but Inoue had no set execution date. She was probably safe and alive, if miserable. The Commander speculated that she had gone willingly, a traitor. Which was a crock of shit, in Rukia's opinion. Inoue may have gone without a fight, but certainly she had gone under duress.

Ah, well. It made no difference to the rescue effort whether she had gone without struggling or not, kidnapped was still kidnapped. Ichigo and company were probably halfway there by now. Ichigo would have given no thought to waiting for others, he would rush ahead, bold and headstrong as always. It couldn't be helped, he was just that way; young and brash and fearless. He would grow out of it one day. Meanwhile, they had a rescue mission to begin.

What were the chances that they would all come out alive? And yet, had Inoue not come to Rukia's rescue back in the summer Rukia wouldn't be alive to worry about what casualties the group may suffer now. She put the worry from her mind, breathed deeply and released it. Renji shifted at her side, one hand on his sword, the other adjusting his new sunglasses. Those things were doomed.

And Urahara had the gate open. Rukia looked up to her tattooed companion. "Come, Renji. Let us run fast and not look back."

* * *

There was a strangely heavy sense of deja vu in the air today. Kisuke shut the garganta and headed back toward the stairs. They had some barriers to put up, and Kon and the Kurosaki twins would need to be kept occupied. They would all be distracted, however, by worrying about the rescue mission that was currently underway. Yoruichi wasn't going this time. Kuchiki would be serving as babysitter this time around.

Tessai was waiting for him, with that unspoken question on his face: _Do you think they'll make it?_

"They will make it," said Kisuke with certainty. "If it can be done, they are the ones who can do it."


End file.
